Boarding your overnight flight, you're off on a journey that will remain etched in your memory forever!

Arrive in Rome - Afternoon Leisure - Dinner Out

Benvenuti a Roma! We are pleased to offer complimentary transfers from the Rome airport to your hotel at scheduled times. Your Perillo representative will be at the airport to greet you.

This afternoon, you will have free time to relax or better yet, explore the Eternal City. There's so much to see and do!

Tonight, we enjoy a delicious dinner in the characteristic district of Trastevere, one of the centers of the Roman night life. This lively area of tiny winding streets gives a taste of what one imagines Italy to be like, with cobbled streets and music-filled trattorias on every corner

This morning, it's a ten minute ride over to another country - Vatican City. With our expert local guide we'll tour the Vatican Museums - a massive collection of ancient Greek sculptures, medieval tapestries and Renaissance paintings. Our visit culminates in the Sistine Chapel, the room where the Pope is elected.

Next we visit St. Peter's Basilica, by far the largest church in Christendom. We'll see Michelangelo's Pieta, sculpted when he was just 24 years old, as well as Bernini's seven story bronze canopy located above the main altar.

Enjoy dinner on your own tonight. Ask your tour guide for a nearby recommendation, or venture out and explore the local restaurants in Rome! Be sure to try a Suppli’, a quintessential Roman specialty: Fried ball of rice filled with tomato sauce, meat and melted mozzarella.

Hail Caesar! All aboard our chariot for a panoramic tour of imperial Rome, including the Roman Forum, Largo Argentina (where Caesar was stabbed by Brutus) and the Circus Maximus.

Then we'll enter the Colosseum, reliving the brutal entertainment of the gladiators and the lions, refereed by the Emperor himself.

You’re already good friends with your traveling buddy, Joe Piscopo. But tonight’s our chance to watch him at work during our special Gala Dinner at a beautiful restaurant! You’ve never seen such an energetic, multidimensional exhibition of music, impressions and comedy. You’ll want to take Joe home with you!

Today, we will take a flight from Rome to Catania and then our bus will take us to our home for the next 4 nights, Taormina!

This afternoon we will take a leisurely tour, and you’ll discover why Taormina is known as the “Jewel of Italy“. Its winding streets and secluded gardens are truly enchanting. The snow covered volcano, Mt. Etna, serves as a dramatic backdrop to the well-preserved Greek and Roman outdoor theaters we’ll be visiting.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy a dinner out at a local restaurant

09:00 am This morning we’ll depart for the must-see Sicilian Mountain villages that have become world known thanks to F.F. Coppola, who filmed the legendary "The Godfather" here. You will reach Savoca, a medieval town hidden in the mountains.

Our first point will be the world-famous Bar Vitelli, where Michael Corleone asked Apollonia's father for her hand in marriage. Here lunch will be served so you can taste different types of excellent Sicilian wines accompanied by traditional food of the island (meat and cheese delicacies, vegetables, fresh bread, olives and olive oil), sitting on the terrace with a breathtaking view of the Ionian coast and mountains.

We will continue the tour in Forza D'Agro, another picturesque mountain town that also has become the place for the scenes of the Godfather. You will explore the historic square, the ancient monastery and churches, walk the abandoned streets, and enjoy the unique atmosphere of Sicilian villages that was here some hundreds of years ago.

“The Godfather” Filming Locations in Sicily “ 

In the Godfather’s films the towns of Forza d’Agrò were used as locations for those scenes set in Corleone.

Belvedere, Forza d’Agrò, Messina, Italy

Forza d’Agrò, Messina, Italy

The church on the hill in Savoca where Michael Corleone married. The Godfather wedding scene, shot in 1972. Savoca, near the prosperous coastal resort town of Taormina (whose station was used in Godfather III) was chosen as a stand-in for the real village of Corleone in the 1972 movie because it was relatively untouched by progress and had fewer issues than Corleone with the local mafia.

Locals led a hard-scrabble existence, farming on terraces and growing citrus trees and cactus, a perfect backdrop for a story of a Sicilian family who migrated to the US and made it good, mafia style.

Even today, life goes on in a typically “piano, piano” Sicilian way – not too fast. Savoca, unlike inland Corleone, looks to the Ionian Sea from its lofty perch, a pretty village surrounded by sun-blasted hillsides and the occasional old stone farmhouse.

When Francis Ford Coppola filmed here, all the scenes were shot looking away from the stunning view for authenticity. In contrast, a modern sculpture of Coppola, crouched over his cine camera, looks to the sea.

There is one winding, narrow road up from the coastal highway to Savoca, which is now augmented with some modern villas, and then a gentle upward stroll past tiny houses and old ruins to the church on the hilltop, begun in the 14th century and known as Santa Lucia, where Michael married Apollonia.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own.

This morning, you’ll meet one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Mt. Etna is in an almost constant state of eruption. But don’t worry – we’ll keep a safe distance!

The fertile volcanic soil supports extensive agriculture, orchards and vineyards. So let’s visit a local winery for a tour, a wine tasting and a light lunch!

Tonight, you can enjoy dinner on your own. Have you tried pesce spada yet? Swordfish is Sicily’s favorite seafood

This morning, after breakfast, we will head over to Palermo by bus. (Approximately 3.5 hours)

You’ll have an entire free day to enjoy as you please!

This morning we will have a guided tour of Monreale, You will view the town's 12th-century Norman Cathedral, known worldwide for its mosaics, which sits in the hills overlooking Palermo. See Byzantine art come to life within the cathedral's nave, where nearly every surface is covered with intricately detailed mosaics depicting biblical scenes in rich colors and gold filigree. You will then proceed to Palermo and visit the famous Arabic Norman Cathedral where are housing the remains of Frederick II of Swabia, who was buried in Cistercian clothes.

Walking through the streets of the old town, you will reach the Capo market, where food goods are displayed and sold outcrying following the ancient tradition of the Arabs Suk.

This afternoon will be free for you to discover the city with its interesting museums, medieval churches, Byzantine mosaics, or bustling street markets for an authentic taste of local life. Palermo’s strategic position in the middle of the Mediterranean has led to past filled with a regular succession of invaders, from Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans, to Normans, Swabians, French and Spanish Bourbons, and more. This helps to explain the city's eclectic mix of architectural styles—although the 17th- and 18th-century Baroque period has left the most visible mark on Palermo's civic and religious structures.

Tonight, we will enjoy a dinner out at a local restaurant.

Today we will visit Cefalù, a coastal town in Northern Sicily. We will enjoy a guided visit of the famous Norman cathedral, a 12th century fortress-like structure with elaborate Byzantine mosaics and soaring twin towers. The Cathedral has a founding legend: Normal King Roger II made a vow to God during a dangerous sailing trip from Southern Italy. His life was in great danger and he promised to build a wonderful church in the place where he would have landed, if he survived. Roger did in fact survive, disembarked in Cefalù and kept his promise and built a cathedral there.

We’ll have some free time to walk around this charming town, shop and have lunch on our own before heading to Palermo.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own. Be sure to end your dinner with a delicious dessert that originated in Palermo: the Cassata Siciliana.

This morning we head to the Palermo airport for our flight home, arriving in the USA the same day. While we say “arrivederci” to Italy, we realize we’re taking a little piece of it back home with us….and maybe some wine too!

Arrivederci Bella Sicilia!